Dental cuspidor



Nov. 9, 1937. J. A. SAFFIR DENTAL CUSPIDOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 10, 1956 Nov. 9, 1937.

- J. A. SAFFIR 2,098,932 DENTAL CUSPIDOR v I Filed Jan. 10, 1936- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/ G. 5 37 Fl 6. 6

Patented Nov. 9, 1937 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DENTAL CUSPIDOR Application January 10, 1936, Serial No. 58,461

9 Claims.

This invention relates to cuspidors of the type used generally by dentists and termed often, dental cuspidors, fountain cuspidors, dental fountain cuspidors, pedestal cuspidors, or dental spittoons.

Through the ages that dentistry has been practiced in some form, it was always evident that any manipulation in the oral cavity occasioned a considerable flow of saliva and frequently of blood, and a collection of other material which could be rid of only by expectoration; and nearly always some sort of basin or spittoon stood ready on the side opposite that of the dentist, into which a patient could empty the contents of his mouth.

Although from time to time changes have been made to beautify and modernize the dental cuspidor, and to make it more sanitary, yet little has been done heretofore, to increase its utility.

It has remained, until now, a receptacle, usually to the left of the patient, although it may be on the right where the dentist or operator is lefthanded or using left-handed equipment, where the patient may expectorate with due effort.

The amount of effort required to reach the cuspidor by the patient is often very great, es-

' pecially in the case of a child or an obese adult. Too often the patient is unableto reach the cuspidor, and, missing his mark, eX-pectorates on the floor or chair or stains his clothes. Often, after an anesthetic, the patient is incapable of moving the necessary distance, and a pus basin or a towel must be made use of into which he can expectorate.

Very frequently the dentist or nurse must leave other important work to help a very young or elderly or very sick patient to lean over the necessary distance to expectorate and then must help that patient back to the reclining position in the chair.

Another disadvantage of the present cuspidor arrangement is that small pans or pus basins must be used whenever it is necessary to catch overflow material such as water, when it is rapidly or in large volume introduced into the mouth. These basins are held under the chin and when full or nearly full, have to be emptied rapidly and brought right back to the patients chin.

Usually, dribbling has meanwhile occurred which may soil the patients clothes, etc. This is not only very unsightly but is often embarrassing to the patient. An assistant is almost a necessity when the above described pan is used, because the operator will be busy with the dental work at hand and the patient cannot hold the pan without inadvertently spilling it, due to his inability to see the angle at which he is holding said pan or basin.

A further disadvantage of the present cuspidor is that it occupies space often desirable for other purposes. wish some observer to stand at that particular spot so as to occupy a position where the dentist can more easily demonstrate cavities, etc., to the observer.

Esthetically, the above described cuspidors may be very repulsive due to the, drain waste opening being in the center of the cuspidor basin and For example, often the dentist may openly visible, and frequently bits of blood stained cotton, blood clots, brown stained bits of teeth, old and new slivers of amalgam greet the eyes of those expectorating. This is often very repulsive to the individual.

My invention does away with the above mentioned extremely undesirable shortcomingsof the present cuspidor. It can readily be seen that the above disadvantages of the cuspidor are practically all due to the fact that heretofore there has been no way of bringing the cuspidor rapidly, when the need arose, either close enough or' far enough away to make it attain its utmost in utility. This invention makes the cuspidor bowl have utility in all cases, even in those cases where at present it is impossible to use a cuspidor at all and where towels or trays have to the employed to expectorate in. It thus furnishes a sanitary cuspidor for the patient regardless of his position;

and irrespective of the angle in which it is employed, the waste matter will always run down the waste pipe.

Thus, by reason of the construction, more fully described below, the cuspidor becomes a Figure 2 is a top view of the cuspidor bowl shown in Figure l, drawn to reduced scale.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a modified construction, showing a cuspidor having two bowls,

both movable.

of flexible waterproof tubing l2.

Figure 4 is a top View of the structure of Figure 3, drawn to reduced scale.

Figure 5 is a sectional View of another modification of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a top view of the structure shown in Figure 5, drawn to reduced scale.

Figure '7 is a top view of still another embodiment of the present invention.

' Figure 8 is a side view of the bowl illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of another modification of the present invention.

Throughout the drawings similar numerals indicate similar parts in the various embodiments of the invention.

Reference may now be had more particularly to Figure 1 and Figure 2. In these figures I have shown, at I, cuspidor bowl with the waste outlet in an eccentric position, 2. It will be noted that the bottom Wall or floor of the cuspidor bowl, 3, inclines toward the waste outlet, 2, to facilitate drainage. At' t, is shown a waste pipe to which bowl lhas been connected, by means of a rotatable joint, 5. The rotatable joint is formed by the flanges 6 and l, and screw collars 3 and 9. f Screw collar 8 threads on the bowl end of the joint and collar 9 on the waste end of the rotatable joint. f Thus, a socket is formed between collar 9 and flange ii into which fits flange 1, a part of the bowl. Therefore, any motion imparted to the bowl will cause the movement of flange 1 in the socket. By adjusting screw collars I and 9, the joint can be made tighter or looser, affecting the movability of the bowl similarly- Thus, by pushing near the end iii, the patient or the operator, can, by gentle pressure, push the bowl towards or away from himself.

The waste outlet, 2,'is in eccentric position, where the movable joint 5 is located. Thus, if motion were applied at any point distal to the joint end of the bowl, the bowl would swing in a horizontal path. For example, a force applied .at point 10 moves the bowl to it. The moved bowl is shown by dotted lines. Movement, of course,'c'an be made in either direction.

1 'Figure 3 shows two cuspidor bowls on a cus- 'pidor pedestal 43. Adjacent bowl '5 is smaller bowl l6 attached to the waste pipe H by means When bowl is is lifted from its position as shown in this figure, it raises the weighted lower end 83, whichmoves upward and can reach a point as far as M. This "movement and position can be adjusted atthe will of the operator. When the operator is through and replaces the cuspidor, the weight l3 pulls the tubing back into place within the cusfpidor unit. Numeral I5 is where tubing enters the pedestal, when that type of unit is employed. Thos', when bowl i swings around, bowl it, due

to its attachment to flexible tubing, easily follows.

Figure 4 shows a top view of the cuspidors illustrated in Figure 3. Withmy invention it is possible to use any shape for the cuspidor bowl.

Thus, it need not be perfectly round as heretoing to its proper position in said pedestal.

bowl.

cuspidor bowl pedestal. Cuspidor bowl 3! is of the type in general use today. Cuspidor bowl 32 is attached to the waste outlet 33 by flexible tubing 34. When bowl 3? is lifted, the weight 35 is also lifted; this can be lifted until the weight 35 strikes the cuspidor outlet 3%. This may also be adjusted to suit any particular needs. When the cuspidor is returned to its position, this weight carries the tubing down, and, when mounted on a cuspidor pedestal returns the tub- 33 is the waste outlet from the movable bowl 32.

It will'be noted that the movable bowl 32 is attached to the fixed bowl 3i by means of two semi-circular hooks '37. Thus, if a pus bowl is esired, or, if a tray is required to be placed directly under the chin or nearer the patient, this bowl is removed from its hooks and carried into the desired position. The saliva or water will run through the waste opening 36, through tubing 3 into waste pipe 33. One can readily see how much more convenient and sanitary this is than the present pus bowl which has to be carried away to be emptied each time it becomes partly filled and which is so easily spilled. At point 36, the cuspidor bowl is easily detachable and can be sterilized at any time so desired.

Figure 6 is a top view of the bowls shown in Figure 5. The size of bowl 32 can be varied. It is here shown about in proportion to the size required for the average pus bowl or chin bowl.

Figure 7 shows a top view of a bowl 33 with the outlet eccentrically placed where the dotted lines as are. The lip it, however, extends out over the top hiding from view the waste outlet. This is again' shown in a side view in Figure 8 using the same numerals as in Figure 7 to indicate similar parts.

It is a very great improvement to be able to shut from view the waste outlet. In nearly every dental cuspidor bowl there is'a small trap (No. 41 in Figure 5) which keeps bits of cotton, broken teeth, blood clots, old temporary fillings, from running in and clogging the waste pipe. Although this trap may be emptied frequently, it

cannot help at some time holding very repulsive material in the view of the patient seatedbeside it, such a sight often being productive of nausea or near nausea.

from view these materials and helps esthetics of the equipment considerably, besides being a preventativeof possible nausea, especially in delicate and sickly patients.

Figure 9 is another embodiment of my invention in which the bowl 4? has a drain outlet 58 in the center of the bowl, but the suDPOrt for the bowl is not at the drain outlet 48 but at 49. This support, 49, is eccentrically located on the The bowl has a projecting member 53 which is ball shaped and fits into a socket 5! which is formed on the end of the stationary arm '52.. The waste pipe t3 may either be a flexible tube or a non-flexible metal pipe which fits into waste pine at point 54 and does not support any The waste pipe is capableof moving about in harmony with the movements occurring in socket M. This is due tothe fact that the axis of rotation is the same in socket 5! as in the movable junction of waste pipe outlet and waste pipe at point 54. The dotted line 55 shows this axis of rotation.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes, I have herein shown a number of preferred embodiments of myinvention. It

is, however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise structures here shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles of my invention.

What I consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dental cuspidor bowl with waste outlet ecoentrically positioned and a waste pipe leading from said waste outlet of bowl and at the junction of waste outlet of bowl and waste pipe, a movable joint structure allowing horizontal movement of said cuspidor bowl.

2. A dental cuspidor with plural cuspidor bowls, atleast one of these bowls having a waste outlet eccentrically positioned, and a waste pipe leading from said waste outlet of bowl, and at the junction of waste outlet of bowl and waste pipe a movable joint structure to allow horizontal movement of said bowls.

3. A dental cuspidor bowl, attached to dental cuspidor stand by a rotatable joint at the waste outlet of the bowl s0 positioned as to permit movement of cuspidor bowl proximally or distally from the patient.

4. A dental cuspidor with two cuspidor bowls, one cuspidor bowl having a waste outlet eccentrically placed with rotatable joint at said outlet, allowing horizontal movement; the second cuspidor bowl having its waste outlet connected to non-rigid tubing allowing horizontal and vertical movement.

5. In a dental fixture, a cuspidor bowl connected to waste pipe by non-rigid tubing entering said fixture and tubing movable in and out of said fixture, and means for concealing said tubing within said fixture when cuspidor is in its normal position on said dental unit.

6. A dental cuspidor fixture constructed with an opening and means therein to hide from view at least a substantial portion of the flexible tubing, said tubing entering said unit through the opening when movable dental cuspidor bowl has been returned to its normal resting position on unit.

'7. A dental cuspidor bowl, having a rotatable joint at the eccentrically positioned waste outlet opening of the bowl, to permit movement of said bowl about said waste outlet opening. 7

8. A non-circular dental cuspidor bowl with waste outlet eccentrically positioned in the floor of said cuspidor bowl and a rotatable joint at the juncture of waste outlet opening of the bowl and the waste pipe permitting horizontal movement of said bowl about said joint.

9. A dental cuspidor bowl having a waste outlet, a waste pipe leading from said outlet, and a movable joint structure permitting movement of the cuspidor bowl adjacent the junction of said waste outlet and waste pipe.

JACOB A. SAFFIR. 

